"I rise today to express my strong opposition to the detention provisions in the defense authorization bill."

The amendment I'm offering will help small businesses. Small businesses often serve as subcontractors or suppliers to large corporations that have a primary government contract. My amendment would help guarantee that small businesses get paid by these large corporations in a timely way.

Mr. President, nobody should have to choose between safety and shelter. Yet 48 percent of homeless women in Minnesota previously had stayed in abusive situations because they did not have safe housing options available to them.

Over the past two decades, an incredible thing has happened-you can now put your entire medical history-every chart, every x-ray, every test, every last doctor's note, on a thumb drive this big.

I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote against a motion to proceed to Senator Hutchison's joint resolution of disapproval, which would repeal the FCC's net neutrality rules. As many of you know, I have repeatedly said that net neutrality is the free speech issue of our time.

M. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote against a motion to proceed to Senator Hutchison's joint resolution of disapproval, which would repeal the FCC's net neutrality rules.

I believe all Americans have a fundamental right to know who has their personal information-and to control who gets that information and who it is shared with.

This amendment is the right thing to do. It's the moral thing to do. It follows a long precedent of Congress stepping in to protect the most vulnerable members of American society when they face pervasive discrimination. And by that measure, this amendment is absolutely necessary.

I rise today to talk about the urgent need for FEMA disaster funds.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) today spoke on the Senate floor in support of raising the debt ceiling to avoid default.  The text of his remarks, as prepared for delivery, is below:

Stillwater, Minnesota is a beautiful city that's between a rock and a hard place. The current lift bridge between Minnesota and Wisconsin is 80 years old, and was not designed to handle the traffic it currently sees on a daily basis.

I rise today to pay tribute to former Minnesota Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, who this week received his sport's highest honor when he was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

I rise today to discuss the urgent need to raise the debt limit. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues of our obligations to represent our constituents' best interests, and those of our great nation.

Our nation was founded on the premise that all people are created equal, and that all persons should receive equal treatment under the law.

I rise today to talk about our debt crisis. About our short-term debt crisis and our long-term debt crisis. And I come here today to discuss ways to address them and ways not to address them.

I rise today to speak in support of the confirmation of Professor Goodwin Liu to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

I rise today to talk about a Minnesota icon. Minnesotans and baseball fans across the country are celebrating the life of Harmon Killebrew today.

I rise today in strong support of Senator Menendez's bill to eliminate subsidies to big oil companies.

It's my pleasure to welcome all of you to the first hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.

M. President, I rise today to talk about the House's effort last month to repeal the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.